Firearm Stand

ABSTRACT

A firearm stand includes a base having a bottom surface capable of resting on a substantially horizontal support surface and providing lateral and longitudinal stability, and a coupler attached to the base and having a cavity for receiving and holding a lower end portion of a firearm magazine extending from the firearm. With the magazine of the firearm held in the coupler, the firearm is held by the magazine in a desired position above the substantially horizontal surface so it is not resting directly on or against a surface, but is being held by the magazine above the stand. The firearm can be easily removed from the said when desired to be fired and easily replaced in the stand during periods when it is not being fired.

PRIORITY CLAIM

Priority is claimed copending U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser.No. 62/173,192 filed Jun. 9, 2015, which is hereby incorporated hereinby reference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND

Firearms are used for a variety of purposes, including hunting, sport,and self-defense. Because firearms are, by their very nature, capable ofinflicting damage and deadly harm, it is important that they functionproperly and accurately. Consequently, it is important that dirt, dust,debris, and moisture be kept out of the barrel and mechanical action inorder to avoid malfunction, misfire, and reduced accuracy.

During transport and storage, firearms are generally kept in gun safes,gun racks, gun cases, or gun bags—this is intended not only to securethe firearm from unauthorized use, but also to protect the firearm fromdirt, dust, debris, and moisture. However, when the firearm is beingused at a range, it is often inconvenient to return the firearm to itscase when reloading, checking targets, adjusting the firearm, or attimes actual shooting of the firearm is not taking place. At such times,the firearm is normally placed on its side on the firing line table orbench. However, many firearm owners do not like to rest their firearmson their sides on the table or bench.

Additionally, a large variety of accessories have been developed for usein combination with firearms, tools, and other related devices for thepurposes of improving firearm accuracy. Such accessories may includelights, sights, scopes, and lasers. The accessories are generallymounted directly to the firearm, often through use of a rail system.These accessories are often calibrated so that they function properlyand provide maximum accuracy. The calibration sometimes takes place onthe range. For example, a sighting device such as a scope or laser isintended to predict the flight of a bullet. The user fires severalbullets at a target at a known range. Based on where the bullets strikethe target relative to where the sighting device had predicted theywould, the user can adjust the sighting device to improve its accuracy.It is often necessary to use both hands to perform the calibration. Itis therefore beneficial if the firearm is positioned in its naturalfiring position to allow easy access to and calibration of the firearmaccessories. Further, once an accessory is calibrated, is critical thatthe accessory remains fixed and that it is not bumped or jostled in amanner that might disturb the accessory's position on the firearm andcause the accessory to become misaligned. This can happen when a firearmis placed on its side.

It would therefore be advantageous that there be a means to convenientlyhold a firearm in its natural firing position and away from anyenvironmental factors, such as dirt and moisture, that might damage orcompromise the firearm's effectiveness. It is also advantageous not tohave to place the firearm on its side on a surface such as the firingline table or bench.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to the invention, a firearm stand includes a base, such as abase plate, having a bottom surface capable of resting upon asubstantially horizontal surface and providing lateral and longitudinalstability, and a coupler attached to the base for receiving and holdinga lower end portion of a magazine extending from the firearm to be heldby the stand. With the lower end portion of the magazine held in thecoupler, the firearm is held by the magazine in a desired position abovethe substantially horizontal surface so it is not resting on its side.In one embodiment of the invention, the coupler includes an open cavitycapable of receiving and holding the lower end portion of the firearmmagazine extending from the firearm to thereby hold the firearm abovethe substantially horizontal surface and in a natural firing position.This allows the firearm to be easily removed from the stand when desiredto be fired and easily replaced in the stand during periods when it isnot being fired. It also holds the firearm in a position for easyattachment of and adjustment of accessories.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Various example embodiments of the present invention are shown anddescribed in reference to the numbered drawings wherein;

FIG. 1 is a side elevation of a firearm stand with a firearm mounted inthe stand, in accordance with the illustrated embodiment of theinvention.

FIG. 2 is a rear left side perspective view of the firearm stand andfirearm of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a rear left side perspective view of the firearm stand of theinvention without a firearm mounted in the stand.

FIG. 4 is a side elevation of the firearm stand of FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 is a rear elevation of the firearm stand of FIG. 3.

FIG. 6 is a bottom plan view of the firearm stand of FIG. 3.

FIG. 7 is a top rear perspective view of the stand of the invention witha different base embodiment.

It will be appreciated that the drawings are illustrative and notlimiting of the scope of the invention that is defined by the claims.The embodiments shown accomplish various aspects and objects of theinvention. It is appreciated that it is not possible to clearly showeach element and aspect of the invention in a single figure, and assuch, multiple figures are presented to separately illustrate thevarious details of the invention in greater clarity. Similarly, notevery embodiment need accomplish all advantages of the presentinvention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE ILLUSTRATED EMBODIMENTS

The invention, and accompanying drawings will now be discussed inreference to the numerals provided therein so as to enable one skilledin the art to practice the present invention. The drawings anddescriptions are exemplary of various aspects of the invention and arenot intended to narrow the scope of the appended claims.

The firearm stand of the invention, as shown generally by referencenumber 10 in FIGS. 1 and 2, includes a coupler 12 attached to a base 14.The base 14 is adapted to rest on a substantially horizontal supportingsurface 16 and provides lateral and longitudinal stability for thecoupler 14 to hold the coupler 14 in a substantially vertical positionextending from base 14 and the substantially horizontal supportingsurface 16 upon which base 14 rests. The coupler 12 includes a cavity 18therein sized and shaped to receive and hold the bottom end portion of afirearm magazine 20 extending from a firearm indicated generally as 22.With the bottom end portion of firearm magazine 20 received in coupler12, the firearm 22 is held in a desired position, such as asubstantially upright natural firing position, above the substantiallyhorizontal supporting surface 16 as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. The examplefirearm stand illustrated in the drawings is sized and adapted to holdan AK type firearm and the firearm 22 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 is ageneral representation of an AR type firearm. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2,the firearm 22 is held by the firearm magazine 20 extending from thefirearm in normal manner so that the firearm is held and supportedwithout any portion of the firearm resting on or against any surface.

The firearm stand of the invention is shown in more detail in FIGS. 3-6.Base 14 may take the form of a flat plate, as shown, or other formhaving a flat bottom surface or other structure, such as legs, to reston the substantially horizontal supporting surface. The base may be ametal or plastic plate, with a metal plate, such as a steel plate, beingadvantageous to pinned weight to the stand. Coupler 12 may bepermanently attached to base 14 or, as shown, may be removably attachedto base 14, such as by screws 24 extending through screw openings 26 inbase 14 and being screwed into threaded screw receiving openings 28 incoupler 12. FIGS. 3-6. However, base 14 and coupler 12 can be attachedthough a wide variety of other commonly known attachment means,including bolts, rivets, magnets, welding, glue, epoxy, or snaps.Coupler 12 can be made of various materials such as plastic or metal,and can be advantageously molded of a plastic or resin material. Coupler12 is a substantially vertical member and includes cavity 18 which opensthrough the top surface 30 of coupler 12. Cavity 18 is adapted toreceive and hold the bottom end portion of a firearm magazine 20extending from the firearm 22 to be held by the firearm stand. Cavity 18is sized and shaped to easily receive and hold the lower end portion ofthe firearm magazine, and to hold the lower end portion of the firearmmagazine in the cavity without substantial loose side to side and hackand forth movement of the firearm magazine in the cavity. This meansthat the firearm magazine is held in a substantially stationary statewith very little if any side to side and back and forth movementallowed.

The size, shape, and orientation of cavity 18 will depend upon theparticular firearm magazine to be received by the cavity and theparticular type of firearm the coupler is to be used with. For example,cavity 18 will be sized and shaped to receive the lower end portion ofthe firearm magazine used with the particular type of firearm with whichthe stand is to be used. Different firearms use different sized andshaped magazines. As indicated, for explanation purposes, the figuresillustrate an AR type of firearm and the type of magazine used with ARtype firearms, and illustrate a cavity 18 sized and shaped to receivethe lower end portion of AR type magazines. However, the coupler may beadapted for use with other types of firearms, such as for example, AK orHK types of firearms, and in such cases the cavity 18 in the couplerwill be sized and shaped to receive and hold the lower end portion ofthe particular magazine used with such other type of firearm. FIGS. 1and 2 show firearm 22 with magazine 20 extending therefrom received inthe coupler cavity of the firearm stand 10 so that firearm 22 is held bythe firearm stand.

In the illustrated example embodiment of FIGS. 1-6, and in theembodiment of FIG. 7, the coupler 12 includes a front end 32 and a rearend 34. Front end 32 is taller than the rear end 34 so that the topsurface 30 of coupler 12 is sloped downward from the front end 32 to therear end 34. In addition, cavity 18 extends into coupler 12perpendicularly to cavity top surface 30. This results in cavity 18being oriented, in coupler 12 at an angle with respect to the base andto the substantially horizontal supporting surface upon which the baseis adapted to rest, see FIG. 4. The firearm being held will usually havea longitudinal axis which, when in this upright natural firing position,is substantially parallel to the supporting surface, and perpendicularto the vertical. As indicated, this illustrated embodiment is adapted tobe used with AR type firearms, and as shown in FIG. 1, the lower end ofthe AR type magazines are angled forwardly at an angle 36 to thevertical when the firearm is in a substantially upright natural firingposition as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. In the illustrated embodiment foruse with AR type firearms, the cavity 18, as shown in FIG. 4, isoriented at the same angle 36 from the vertical so that when the lowerend portion of the magazine is inserted into the cavity 18, the firearmis positioned in the substantially upright natural firing position asshown in FIGS. 1 and 2, with the longitudinal axis of the firearmsubstantially parallel to the supporting surface. The angled orientationof the cavity 12 can be provided regardless of whether or not the topsurface of the coupler is sloped or regardless of the degree of slope ofthe top surface, however, the slope of the top surface 30 of thecoupler, as shown, including the cavity extending substantiallyperpendicularly to the top surface, is advantageous for more easilyreceiving the angled lower end portion of firearm magazine 20 wheninserting the lower end portion of the magazine 20 into the angledrecess 18 or for releasing the lower end portion of magazine 20 whenremoving the lower end portion of the magazine 20 from the angled recess18. Different types of firearms with different magazine configurationsmay have different angles and require different cavity orientations tohold such firearms in desired positions. For example, if a magazineextends vertically downwardly from a firearm, the cavity 18 would extendvertically into the coupler to hold such firearm in a substantiallyupright natural firing position and the coupler would probably have ahorizontal top surface. The orientation of the cavity 18 will alsochange if the desired position for holding the firearm is other than inthe substantially upright standard firing position. The cavityorientation and the top surface orientation may change as best suited tosecure different types, styles, and shapes of firearm magazines indesired positions. Further, the size of the coupler may vary for usewith different firearms and firearm magazines. A coupler size ofapproximately 3.82 inches long and 2.25 inches wide at the widest pointhas been found satisfactory far AR type firearms.

The size and shape of the base 14 of the firearm stand can vary greatly.In the illustrated example embodiment of FIGS. 1-6, the base plateincludes a front end 40, a rear end 42, and sides 44, FIGS. 3 and 6. Thefront end 40 has a concave circular edge 46 and the rear end 42 has aconvex circular edge 48. The concave circular edge 21 and the convexcircular edge 23 may provide additional longitudinal stability. When thefirearm stand 10 is placed on a planar surface, the concave circularedge 46 can also rest against an anchor that is compatible in shape tothe concave circular edge 46 to provide additional stability and keepthe firearm stand 10 from sliding on the planar surface. The front end40 may be of any shape that promotes stability and that may becompatible with an anchor on a planar surface, if used. A size for theillustrated base plate 14 of approximately 4.9 inches wide at its roarend 42, approximately 2.5 inches wide at its front end 40, andapproximately 5.6 inches long has been found satisfactory. The convexcircular edge 48 may have a radius of 3.8 inches and the concavecircular edge 46 may have a radius of 1.75 inches.

In use, the base 14 is placed on a substantially horizontal supportingsurface 16, which when used in a firing range can be the firing linetable or bench, to provide both lateral and longitudinal stability tothe coupler 12. The firearm 22 is placed in the firearm stand 10 byinserting the lower end portion of the firearm magazine 20 into thecavity 18 in coupler 12 so that the firearm 22 is held upright innatural firing position. In this position, the firearm itself does notmake any contact with the supporting surface 16 and is completelysupported by the firearm stand 10, and any attachments are also held offthe supporting surface and are easily accessible. The firearm can remainin this position in the firearm stand until it is to be fired orotherwise moved, at which time a user will lift the firearm to removethe lower end of the magazine 20 from the cavity 18 in coupler 12. Inthis illustrated example embodiment of the invention where the coupler12 is adapted to receive the lower end portion of the magazine 20extending from an AR type firearm 22, the coupler 12 is positionedtoward the rear 42 of the base 14 to balance the firearm 22 in uprightposition. By positioning the coupler 12 towards the rear of the base 14,there is increased longitudinal stability at the front of the base 14 toaccommodate the weight of firearm 22 with a barrel that extends wellpast the from of the base 14. The placement of the coupler on the basewill depend upon the firearm and the positioning of the magazine withrespect to the firearm to be received by the coupler. The positioning ofthe magazine with respect to the firearm will determine the forcesexerted by the lower end of the magazine when received in the couplerthat need to be countered by the base of the stand when positioned onthe supporting surface. If, for example, the magazine is positioned onthe firearm with approximately equal weight of the firearm ahead of (infront of) the magazine and behind the magazine, the coupler can bemounted approximately centered on the base. If more weight of thefirearm is ahead the magazine, the coupler may be positioned towards therear of the base plate 14 to hold the firearm 22 in upright position loaccommodate the weight of the firearm 22 that would extend past thefront of the base plate 22. Conversely, if more weight of the firearm isbehind the magazine, the coupler may be positioned towards the front ofthe base plate 14 to hold the firearm 22 in upright position toaccommodate the weight of the firearm 22 that would extend past the rearof the base plate 22.

FIG. 7 shows a firearm stand similar to that of FIGS. 1-6, but with adifferent shaped base 50. The coupler 12 is the same as in FIGS. 1-6.Any shape and size base can be used as long as it provides sufficientlateral and longitudinal stability for the particular firearm to be heldin the firearm stand. The base can be made in many different decorativeshapes and designs, or in the design of various logos.

As indicated, the coupler can be either permanently attached to the baseor can be removably attached to the base. If permanently attached and auser has several different types of firearms, a separate firearm holderof the invention comprising both the base and the coupler will be neededfor each different type of firearm. If removably attached, a single basecan be used and the appropriate coupler for the particular firearm beingused on an outing can be attached to the base. When a different firearmis to be used, the appropriate coupler is attached to the base.

The foregoing detailed description describes the invention withreference to specific exemplary embodiments. However, it will beappreciated that various modifications and changes can be made withoutdeparting from the scope of the present invention as set forth in theappended claims. The detailed description and accompanying drawings areto be regarded as merely illustrative, rather than as restrictive, andall such modifications or changes, if any are intended to full withinthe scope of the present invention as described and set forth herein.

What is claimed is:
 1. A firearm stand for supporting a firearm having amagazine extending from the firearm comprising: a base, wherein the baseis capable of resting upon a substantially horizontal surface andproviding lateral and longitudinal stability for the firearm supportedby the stand; and a coupler attached to the base, wherein the coupler isadapted to receive and hold a tower portion of a magazine extending fromthe firearm.
 2. The firearm stand of claim 1, wherein the couplercomprises a substantially vertical member with a cavity therein, thecavity open at the top of the vertical member and adapted to receive thelower portion the firearm magazine therein.
 3. The firearm stand ofclaim 2, wherein the cavity is of a size and shape to receive and holdthe lower portion the firearm magazine therein without substantial looseside to side and back and forth movement of the firearm magazine in thecavity.
 4. The firearm stand of claim 3, wherein the cavity is orientedin the coupler to receive and hold the lower portion of the firearmmagazine therein when the lower portion of the firearm magazine isinserted into the cavity, in a position that will hold the firearm abovethe substantially horizontal surface in a desired position.
 5. Thefirearm stand of claim 4, wherein the desired positioned is the naturalfiring position.
 6. The firearm stand of claim 5, wherein the couplerhas a top surface and wherein the top surface is sloped and the cavityextends into the coupler perpendicularly to the top surface.
 7. Thefirearm stand of claim 4, wherein the coupler has a top surface andwherein the top surface is sloped and the cavity extends into thecoupler perpendicularly to the top surface.
 8. The firearm stand ofclaim 3, wherein the firearm has a longitudinal axis, wherein when thefirearm is in the upright natural firing position the firearmlongitudinal axis is substantially parallel to the supporting surface,wherein the lower end portion the firearm magazine extends at an angleto the firearm longitudinal axis, and wherein the cavity is oriented inthe coupler to hold the lower end portion of the firearm magazine wheninserted into the cavity at an angle to the supporting surface wherebythe firearm is held in upright natural firing position.
 9. The firearmstand of claim 8, wherein the coupler has a top surface and wherein thetop surface is sloped and the cavity extends into the couplerperpendicularly to the top surface.
 10. The firearm stand of claim 1,wherein the coupler is removably attached to the base.